In my Family Law practice, I see the results of extramarital affairs on a regular basis. A wife stunned that her husband and best friend had been meeting behind her back. A husband sent reeling when his wife leaves him for his brother. A spouse having midnight chats with an ex-flame on Facebook. Suspicions confirmed...

Little changes can have big impact. Case in point: You write a lovely note to somebody you like and tell them how pretty they are. Except you accidentally leave out the ‘r’ in pretty. Such a little mistake. Such a big difference in how your letter is received! Here are some common mistakes that married...

Watch a movie, save a marriage? Maybe. According to the results of a recent study from the University of Rochester, watching and discussing movies about relationships with your spouse is as effective in lowering divorce rates as more intensive marriage counseling programs. While the study was done with couples married 1-3 years – one of...

Have you ever experienced troubled waters in your marriage? Periods of time when you felt it was broken? Or had events occur that caused so much damage it seemed like the marriage was beyond repair? If you have been married any length of time, odds are good you’ve experienced some hurts, challenges, or obstacles to...

First of all, to spare potential disappointment, I want you to know from the get-go this has nothing to do with the Grateful Dead. So if you thought I was going to help you talk your spouse into taking a retro adventure, uh . . . sorry. Let’s talk about my backyard. I took a...

Do you want to make your mate feel great? Here are 101 things to say to do just that! 1. You make me feel special. 2. You still make my heart go pitter-patter! 3. You’re hot! 4. I know you have my back. 5. I continue to learn from you. 6. Your smile lights my...

Competition between spouses can be fun, energizing and healthy for the marriage. Keeping score to determine who won at golf, racquetball, scrabble, or a favorite video game makes absolute sense. Keeping score in other areas of marriage does not. But isn’t that just what we do? I’ve taken out the trash the last three times!...

Laugh, and the world laughs with you. More importantly, your spouse laughs with you. Just the words giggle, chuckle and chortle probably make you smile. Take it bigger with mirthful glee or bubbling laughter. Or over the top with a loud guffaw. Whether small, medium or large, laughter is good stuff! Making your spouse laugh...

I have already warned you how what happens in the bathroom – those little annoying habits that crop up – can harm a marriage. But annoying your spouse in the kitchen could be even more dangerous – there’s knives there! It’s often the little things that cause the biggest spats. Here are nine of those...

“Absolutely beautiful!” was the first thought I had when I saw the Tree of 40 Fruits. Then I read the behind-the-scenes story of how it came to be and listened to artist and professor Sam Van Aken, from Syracuse University, sum up his art-to-reality project. An actual tree that bears 40 fruits. How can that...

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About

Shel Harrington is a Family Law attorney and adjunct law professor who teaches Family Law and related courses.

In addition to her published law-related book and articles, Shel is a frequent writer and speaker on marriage and divorce. One of her favorite topics? How to put her out of business by doing marriage better!

As “the divorce lawyer who doesn’t like divorce,” she blogs about relationships. In her alternative humor writing world, Shel blogs about embracing age and being one’s fiercest self at Fat-Bottom-Fifties Get Fierce, where she has over 300,000 followers.